[yrralguthrie]

The answers in this thread made me curious so I did some searching on the internet. "chrome vs nickel plating"

Turns out that it is not all that hard to tell them apart.

There are two types of chrome plating; hard chrome which is thicker say 1/1000 of an inch. Used on wear parts like the inside of a barrel. It's not really harder but wears better because it's thicker.

Then regular chrome plating which is millionths of an inch thick. The item is nickel plated first for protection and shine, then the chrome is applied to keep the nickel plating from tarnishing.

And as has been said the nickel plated item will have a easily seen yellowish cast to it. Looks kind of silver/blue. Soft (not literally) a soft look. The chrome plate makes the item look very hard, with a bluish cast and a deep shine. Very reflective.

So the gun in question was likely nickel plated originally, had some severe wear. It was then polished, but all the nickel wasn't removed and then chrome plated. Not even the correct way to chrome plate.

Excellent post for me.

ljg